Q&A: NSU Modern artistic director talks his final Battle Royale

Hearts beat faster. The music grows louder. The crowd goes wild. This is how a fourth-year English student Jeremy Ortiz, who has been dancing all four years of college, remembers Battle Royale.

Each year, UCLA hip-hop dance teams ACA Hip Hop, VSU Modern, Samahang Modern and NSU Modern compete in Battle Royale. The combination of clubbing, dance competition and exhibitions will happen at 333 Live on Thursday.

Ortiz, a former Daily Bruin writer, is one of the three artistic directors of NSU Modern. He spoke with Daily Bruin’s Sally Lee about his experiences as a dancer, performer and director in preparation for Battle Royale.

Daily Bruin: What is it like being an artistic director for NSU Modern?

Jeremy Ortiz: The two other artistic directors on the team and I plan out all the creative aspects for the team. We have more say when it comes to creative input. A lot of the choreography, music choice, costumes and themes for the set are created by us. We meet every week to decide on the visuals and music. We have done a Disney theme in past sets.

As artistic director, I feel like I am a parent to my team. The other directors and I push the members as dancers more. We can see their faces to push themselves to go as full out as they can. Seeing them grow is incredible. They’ve completely changed, they’re different dancers, much more confident. We can see them with fear in the beginning to becoming confident, fully grown dancers. … It’s like creating an art piece, making a painting or something. In the end you see it all coming together. It makes me so proud seeing everyone working so hard.

DB: How is this year’s Battle Royale different from past years’?

JO: In the past, we hired choreographers outside of the team. We’ve had a more theatrical look to our style which sometimes felt kind of forced. This year, we wanted to rebuild the team by adding our own taste to our style, so we’ve been focusing on a lot of in-house choreography. …

My vision for NSU Modern at Battle Royale and in general is that we keep staying true to ourselves by doing what we enjoy doing, embodying a character, adding wow moments and connecting more with the crowd. For this year’s Battle Royale, we plan to add more tricks, flips and interaction with the audience.

DB: What are you most excited about for Battle Royale?

JO: Since I’m graduating this quarter, this year’s Battle Royale will be my last and most exciting one. In the past years, my teammates and I have been more stressed with the competition, but this year we really want to just have fun. … I am most excited about making the most out of my last Battle Royale with everyone. Throughout the years, I have gotten to know a lot of people from the other dance teams, so I also look forward to talking to them and to seeing their unique styles different from ours.

DB: Where do you get your inspiration behind the set for the competition?

JO: I get my inspiration from working with other teammates, seeing another person’s choreography, big name choreographers such as Marissa Osato who has a contemporary style and Parris Goebel with a unique hip-hop Polynesian style. I look at them as my idols.

DB: What’s most memorable for you, being on the team?

JO: We have what we call “Hell Week,” the week right before our competition. That whole week is just non-stop practice. We usually start at 7 p.m. and rehearse until as late as 5 a.m. … There’s a point where everyone is so exhausted and so delirious, but something funny happens. One time we heard someone had farted. At first, we thought it was the floor creaking. Everybody broke down laughing. It was 2 a.m. and funny moments like that are great.

Being in that misery together of juggling school and work and all that is the best memory we have. Being in the dance team together, with everyone going through the same crazy schedule, is an invaluable experience.

Email Lee at [email protected].